New Beginnings
by YayPercabeth123
Summary: Gale and Katniss meet differently. AU


**Hey people! This was some random stuff I wrote yesterday... It was intended to be for my socials creative writing piece but it ended up being like this, so I thought I should post it. Anyways, this is just a short, little one-shot. Happy reading!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games. **

Seventeen-year old Gale Hawthorne crouched behind one of the walls of the precious architecture, pausing to catch his breath. Shouts resonating, bombs firing, guns shooting sounded all around him- there was no way he could escape without being at the mercy of the enemy's hand.

In this tough time, they knew they had to take cover. Their enemies were to persecute his kind, their belief that they were dirty**, **barbarians, and needed to be taken care of as soon as possible.

Now, if that wasn't bad enough, their city actually allowed it. It was officially written in the legal code, which Gale always thought was some random laws hastily written down that they actually had to study in school.

Their numbers were already wearing thin- lots of their own people, especially ones lower in the social class, were hit with a severe plague that killed off many people. Gale was one of the few lucky people who managed to survive.

Plus, as if they didn't have enough on their plate, their enemies were all gladiators, trained their whole lives with the best technology anyone in the country can ever have.

Life sucks, he firmly decides, as yet another glancing shot flew by his dirt-covered face.

He was surrounded. He heard the heavy footsteps of those elephant-like gladiators walking towards him. They seemed to be talking loudly about some sort of plan to kill him, which would have been fantastic if he actually understood Latin.

In a group of five, the gladiators completely cornered Gale. They started to shout complete rubbish at Gale.

_If only I listened instead of sleeping in Latin class,_ Gale though as he did a mental translation in his head.

One guy seemed to be saying, "Listen to the story of my betrothal! She is a beautiful maiden…" But Gale quickly tuned him out because sentences that start with "listen" were never good.

Another guy was shouting, "The epics were true! The stories were never false, m'boys, never were they once a figment of my imagination!" Then the guy proceeded to point at Gale as if Gale couldn't even see his blatant pointing. Gale's nose wrinkled as his stormy grey eyes watched a trail of spit travel down the gladiator's long, brown beard.

However, this seemed to be their main goal, because the biggest, burliest guy of them all stepped forward and started spitting violently into Gale's face, "Yes! Give us the relic, son! The relic!"

"What relic?" Gale asked, clearly confused. As far as he was concerned, the most precious thing he had ever owned was a bow and arrows he got from his father when he passed away.

"The epic told us!" Their arms flailed around frantically, trying to make a statement. "We trust this story very much! The child behind the shield will have the relic that shall make us prosperous! Now we shall win!"

Gale turned his head, and sure enough, he was standing against a carved, intricate shield.

"Give it to us!" The gladiators demanded, their impatience starting to bubble to the surface. They started advancing inwards, tempting Gale to shout for his personal space.

"I don't have some relic." Gale shouted back at them, hoping he said the right Latin words. Judging by the way all gladiators' eyes narrowed, and how one guy started scrutinizing his hips and staring at himself, he probably just called them fat in Latin.

"We shall kill you!" They all screamed, splitting Gale's earbuds, before raising their spears and dramatically bringing them down.

Gale shut his eyes, his mind thinking one mantra- I'm too young to die, I'm too young to die, I'm too young to die.

He started to panic and hyperventilate, beginning to think that he was going to die.

Then their voices were gone. He opened his eyes, and they were gone. _Now, I'm officially insane,_ he though, disbelieving the sight in front of him. He brought his hand to face, blinking once, blinking twice, making sure all his limbs were still attached to his body.

"You know, you look really stupid like that." A feminine voice brought him out of his shock, and he looked up to see a soot-covered girl in a braid, her bow and arrows slung around her shoulders. Her face was familiar, he must have seen her around the community before.

His brain finally processed the words she said, and he sheepishly smiled at her, laughing at his own stupidity.

"Are you just going to stand there and be useless?" She reprimanded him, taking two steps closer to him, and up close her grey eyes were prominent to him, freckles dotting her cheeks as she scolded him. "There's a war out here, and all you were doing was sitting there and looking pretty!" She paused, and glanced at him for a second, then amended, "Or in your case, looking ugly."

He felt insulted. He just had to go through that terrifying experience, and now here she was, insulting him! The fact that she just saved his life was nothing. She can't go around talking trash about him.

"Excuse me," He started, before being cut off by her again.

"Save your girly complaining for later; right now, we have some people to save. " Her eyes gave room for no argument, her brain was clearly set, and from the few minutes Gale knew her, he knew he wasn't stopping her.

Her eyes softened just a tad bit, before she put out her hand. "I'm Katniss. Katniss Everdeen."

Gale hesitantly looked at her hand, and then decided to shake it. "I'm Gale. Gale Hawthorne."

**So, review and favorite! Check out some of my other stories, too! **


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